Open-air Shakespeare : under Australian skies / Rosemary Gaby, senior lecturer, University of Tasmania, Australia.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gaby, Rosemary, author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Palgrave pivot

Global Shakespeares

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Appreciation--Australia.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Stage history--Australia.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Theater, Open-air--Australia.

Theater, Open-air.

Theater--Australia--History.

Theater.

History.

Australia.

Physical Description:

viii, 123 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Summary:

"Many people today first encounter staged Shakespeare in an open-air setting. In Australia, picnic Shakespeares seem particularly suited to the predilections of contemporary audiences and the plays have been performed in a remarkably varied range of sites. Shakespeare has been transported to gardens, parks, caves, mountains and beaches all over the country, in a place that for Shakespeare and his contemporaries was completely unknown. Why does the anomaly of performing Shakespeare in Australian space exert such a strong appeal? This book traces the history of open-air Shakespeare production in Australia from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day and suggests that the industry reflects important changes in the ways contemporary Australians relate to both their environment and to Shakespeare. It provides striking evidence of the diversity of localised responses to Shakespeare that exist outside Britain, and contributes to our understanding of Shakespeare's changing global impact"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Open-air Shakespeare, Space, Place and Performance

1. Early Experiments: Pastoral and Elizabethan Staging

2. Pageants and Festivals: Shakespeare in the Street

3. Glenn Elston and the Rise of Picnic Shakespeares

4. From Local Park to National Park: After the 1980s

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781137426857

1137426853

OCLC:

875520498

Publisher Number:

99958863428

Online:

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